It hasn’t been 40 full weeks yet, but the baby is showing no signs of leaving its comfort zone. Hendrik – lovingly referred to as “the Muggo” – was born on week 39. So the fact that his sibling hasn’t been born yet is making we parents a little restless. Like, literally. Allison can’t sleep, and I’m having sympathy leg cramps.

This is so much worse than waiting for Christmas day. You see, with Christmas you know exactly how long you have to wait. I remember counting down the hours when I was a kid. And sure, it was hard to be patient, but at least there was an end date. With a pregnancy, there’s really no telling. Labor could start in 20 minutes. Or it could start in two weeks. I think the anticipation (read: dread) has a strangely sour quality to it.

The seemingly incoherent list I started this post with are all suggestions of things that might persuade this baby to come meet us. We’ve tried many of them. None of them seem to be working. If the baby needs more time to develop, so be it – that is obviously the most important thing here.